We see people drawing conclusions from slower or flattened growth all the time, most recently on PC sales. My take is, every growth curve ALWAYS ends up being an S curve. No one should expect rapid rise to go on forever.
In this case, seems to me there are two simultaneous causes. One is that the flow of manufacturing to China from overseas may be slowing down, simply because those who wanted to offshore manufacturing have done so. The other is the global "economic malaise."
The Chinese domestic market still has potential for gymongous growth, of course. My bet is that this is where growth, for Chinese companies espcecially, will come from in the future.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.